Constant
by MariaClaire
Summary: Some things in life you can always count on. Sometimes that's a good thing. But other times, it hurts. *Chapter 1 features Jason and Piper. *Chapter 2 features Annabeth and Percy.
1. Chapter 1

*****A/N: This came out of a writing prompt where two characters walk into a room and have a conversation that irrevocably changes one or both of them. I apologize for the angst. SPOILERS for **_**The Burning Maze**_**.**

**Disclaimer: I'm not Rick Riordan because if it were up to me, these two would have lived happily ever after, like in Jason's vision in Athens.*****

* * *

_**Change is the only constant in life.**_

**-Heraclitus, Greek philosopher**

**JASON:**

The moment Piper sat down on his bed and said, "Jason, we need to talk," his heart started to pound. And not in the good way.

Dread has been building in his stomach all night. Piper had been quiet at dinner, stiff and tense through the movie, silent on the drive back to his dorm (she'd "borrowed" her nasty neighbor's car again for their date tonight), and she'd barely made eye contact with him all evening. But she looked up at him now, straight on. As she drew in a deep breath and started to talk, Jason had a moment to wonder, desperately, if there was anything he could do to stop what was about to happen. He doubted it.

It wasn't like he hadn't suspected this was coming. Over the past couple of months, since they got out to California really, things had been different. It wasn't like they were fighting or anything. Most of the time, everything was fine. But he'd started to notice a…distance between them. It was hard to explain, but ever since they'd come back from searching for Leo and enrolled in school here in L.A., it was like certain walls had gone up between them. Mostly, he felt, on Piper's end, but he was sure he was partly to blame, too.

Adjusting to being a normal high school student wasn't easy, especially when he still also had to deal with monster attacks every other week. Plus tracking down and researching all the major and minor Greek and Roman deities, and designing appropriate shrines for them, took up a big chunk of his time. Although he was actually enjoying the project more than he'd anticipated. And surprisingly he liked a lot of his classes. It was nice to have a few friends at school, too, who just treated him as Jason, instead of looking at him in awe as the son of Jupiter. So basically it had been a busy semester. Piper, he knew, also had a lot going on. And maybe neither of them had been putting the work into their relationship that they needed to.

Fighting the panic rising in his chest, Jason sank onto his bed, a couple feet away from where Piper was sitting, and listened as she talked. She told him about her confusion. About trying to figure out who she was and what she wanted, outside of Hera and Aphrodite's manipulations. He could fully understand and appreciate that. The harder hit came when she said he was her best friend, more than anyone else, and she loved him, but—but she wasn't _in love _with him anymore, at least not the same way.

"I just don't think I can figure things out and be any good in a relationship at the same time," she admitted. "I don't think that's fair to either of us."

Jason felt his insides going dark, as if a lightbulb in his chest had blown out. "I love you, Pipes. But if—if you don't feel the same way anymore, then yeah, this isn't going to work."

She met his eyes and he saw the painful truth there, even as she whispered, "I'm sorry."

He wanted so badly to take her hand, to pull her against his chest and hold her and make her feel better, but he knew that wasn't what she needed right now. Instead, he looked into her eyes. Gods, he loved her eyes. Trying to figure out their prominent color was one of his favorite things to do. But he'd never been able to get it quite right. He took a deep breath. "Don't apologize for your feelings. Isn't that what you tell the rest of us?"

She gave a shaky laugh that maybe had some tears in it. "Yeah, I guess. Gods, how are you being so nice right now?"

"Would you prefer if I was a jerk?"

"It would make this a lot easier."

"My bad." They exchanged sad smiles and Jason's heart twisted. He exhaled and looked down at his hands. "I care about you, Piper. If you need to be alone to figure things out, then that's what you need to do. I just want you to be happy."

She studied him for several long moments, then said softly, "Thank you, Jason. What about you?"

He shrugged. "I'll be okay. I mean, this hurts right now, I can't lie. But we'll—I'll figure it out."

More silent studying, then, "Okay."

They sat there in silence for a while, letting these last moments hang between them. Jason didn't want to move or do anything to disturb the quiet. Because when it was over, _they _would be over.

Finally, Piper stood. She hesitated, then leaned over and kissed his cheek. He closed his eyes, savoring the touch of her lips on his skin. When she straightened up, he met her eyes for several infinite heartbeats.

"I'd better go," she said quietly.

_Don't_, he wanted to say. Instead, he nodded. It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.

She paused at his dorm door and glanced over her shoulder. "I'll—I'll see you around, right?"

"Yeah," he managed. "Yeah, definitely."

He held it together until she'd gently closed the door behind her. Then he crumpled forward, back bent once again like when he'd been disguised as an old man on Ithaca. The island where, after he'd been stabbed, Piper had held him in her arms and traced her thumb along his lip. He remembered her sitting beside his bed when she came back from the Temple of Fear in Sparta, after he'd collapsed, and how she'd been trembling as she held his hand, and he'd done his best to comfort her. His mind flickered across the night they'd sat on the Cabin One roof and kissed beneath the stars.

Other images flashed through his mind, moments they'd shared, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed. He thought of the very first day they met, when he'd held her in his arms, suspended in midair over the Grand Canyon, and he could feel her heart beat against his own. He couldn't stop the storm of memories, but it hurt. It hurt way worse than any injury he'd sustained in combat, including stupid Michael Varus stabbing him in the back.

He took off his glasses, letting them drop onto the bed beside him, and covered his face with his hands. Maybe he should have seen this coming. After all, it was the one constant in his life. His mother. Thalia. Leo. Now, Piper.

People leave.

Jason stayed that way, head in his hands, alone in his darkened room, for a long time.

* * *

_**All is flux, nothing stays still.**_

**-Heraclitus**

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*****Thanks for reading! There will be a second chapter of this story, but featuring Annabeth and Percy and related loosely again to that idea of a "constant" in life.*****


	2. Chapter 2

*****This one-shot is set in November, about four months after the war with Gaea. Thanks for reading!*****

* * *

_**Couples are wholes and not wholes, what agrees disagrees, the concordant is discordant. **_**-Heraclitus**

* * *

**ANNABETH:**

Gods, it was hard to stay sometimes. For all her talk of wanting to build something permanent (and she _does _want that, more than anything), there are still times when she has to fight hard against the old instinct to run away.

So when the argument happened, it was fear of what it might mean that sent her running out of the apartment.

To his credit, Percy came running after her, but at the moment he was about the last person she wanted to see. He caught up to her less than a block from his parents' apartment.

"Annabeth, wait!"

She didn't stop until he was right next to her, until he actually touched her arm, and she jerked it away.

"Just leave me alone, Percy." Her voice came out thick, like she had a head cold.

"Look, I just—are you crying?" When he caught sight of her tear-streaked face, his own looked stricken.

She sniffed and dabbed her eyes with her jacket sleeve. "What do you want?"

"I just…" All the fight had drained out of him. "I crossed a line back there. I'm sorry."

A sob hitched in her chest. "I can't _believe_ you would say that to me, Percy. It was just—it was just mean."

"I know." He swallowed hard, his eyes never leaving her face. "Gods, Annabeth, I'm so sorry."

"Whatever." She turned away. "Just go, Percy. I don't want to talk to you right now."

He held up his hands. "Fair enough. But at least let me walk you back to your dorm. You don't have to talk to me," he added hastily when she glared at him. "I just want to make sure you get back safe. If—if you got attacked by a monster and were distracted and got hurt because I was a jerk," his voice caught, "I could never forgive myself."

She relented and nodded. _At least he acknowledged he was a jerk_, she thought savagely, but that didn't really make her feel better.

The cold November wind had never felt so bitter. They trudged down the street, Annabeth still wiping away tears, Percy occasionally glancing over. His hands were stuffed in his jeans pockets and goosebumps rose on his arms. He'd left home in just a t-shirt, no jacket or coat or…

"Stop," Annabeth said. They were nearly to her dorm.

Percy's hand went to his pocket, where he kept Riptide. "Monster?"

"No, you idiot, you're freezing." He tried to protest that he was fine, but Annabeth wasn't listening. She unzipped her jacket, then stripped off Percy's AHS hoodie she'd borrowed earlier, before the evening went to hell. She shoved the sweatshirt at Percy. "Here. I don't want it anyway."

His jaw clenched, but he nodded and pulled on the sweatshirt. Even once she zipped her jacket back up, she felt cold. They walked the last few blocks in complete silence, not looking at each other.

But when they reached her dorm, just as she was about to walk in, Percy asked, "Can I—can I call you later?"

"I'd rather you didn't," she said quietly. She couldn't look at him. "I'll—I'll call you. When I'm ready to talk." She didn't wait for his response, just walked inside and closed the door behind her.

Annabeth spent the night hovering between angry and miserable. And she wasn't even only angry at Percy (although he wasthe main target). She'd tried to call _and _Iris-message Piper, with absolutely no luck. Nothing went through. After the fourth failed attempt, Annabeth cursed and threw a drachma at the wall. Communication hadn't been working reliably since the war with Gaea and right now that felt like just one more broken thing in her life. Annabeth was done. She flung herself on the bed and screamed into her pillow. It didn't really help.

Then she rolled onto her back, clutching the bedspread in her fists, eyes blurring with tears as she ran back over the fight in her head.

Maybe she shouldn't have been surprised. They'd been sniping at each other for a week or two. She supposed it was inevitable that after the relief and happiness of being back together and surviving the war wore off, the stress of what they'd been through was bound to hit. It probably didn't help that school was insane right now. The pressure to get everything done was intense. And lately most—or pretty much _all_—of their dates consisted of studying. The last time they'd really done something fun…she had to think hard about that. Going out for cheeseburgers after defeating Setne on Governor's Island? They'd hung out and watched a movie after that, although even then she'd had to finish some homework. And that had been, what, nearly a month ago?

So, okay, _maybe_ she could see how tonight's argument hadn't come out of nowhere. It might have just been everything hitting its boiling point. And it had started out so dumb that she truthfully didn't even remember exactly how it'd begun—an offhand comment, a biting comeback, and then it escalated from there until…a tear trickled from the corner of her eye.

They'd been arguing in relatively low voices, since Paul was in the kitchen grading papers while they were sitting on the living room floor, using the coffee table as a desk. Or, at least, they had been. At this point, they were both on their feet, glaring daggers at each other with about a textbook's length of space between them.

Finally, she'd flung up her hands in frustration. "Gods, you make me so crazy sometimes. Why is this so difficult to understand?"

Percy's neck and cheeks were red as he shot back, "Well if I annoy you so much, I guess it's too bad you didn't just let Luke stab me."

She reeled back almost as if he'd slapped her. "That's not—I've never—what are you saying?" Caught completely off guard, she couldn't form a coherent response. And suddenly she couldn't stand being in that apartment a second longer. Hot tears pricked her eyes as she grabbed her backpack, shoes, and jacket and left, slamming the door behind her.

Now, as she thought about what he'd said, it barely even made sense. Did he mean let Luke stab him on Olympus, right at the end? Or during the fight, when instead she'd intercepted the strike with her knife? Or was he talking about some other time when they'd fought Luke? She doubted it was in reference to his former Achilles spot because even when he was angry she was certain he knew that she would _never_, under any circumstances, have given that up. But really, it was less about the reality of the statement and more about the painful situation it referenced and the clear bitter jealousy in it. He had to have known there weren't too many things he could have said that would cut her more deeply. Honestly, she'd momentarily been in shock that those words had even come out of Percy Jackson's mouth.

But they had. And Annabeth wasn't sure how to move past that yet. For the first time, she wondered if she might actually have to break up with Percy. The instant _that _thought crossed her mind, the tears started for real. Annabeth rolled over onto her stomach and sobbed until her stomach hurt and her nose was running and her eyes were puffy and sore. The last time she'd sobbed like this—painful, heartbroken sobbing—was in Siren Bay, when her dreams for an amazing future had been snatched away.

When she'd finally stopped crying, and washed her face and brushed her teeth, she tried again to call Piper, then Rachel, then even Thalia, but with no luck. She was sort of friends with some of the girls on her dorm floor, but not really close enough to go to them with a problem like this. Besides, she wanted to talk to someone who knew who she really was and what she and Percy had been through together. It was around this time that exhaustion hit her and Annabeth fell asleep.

She woke up feeling slightly more clear-headed. At the very least, she felt confident that she was _not _going to break up with her boyfriend, who she loved and who she had literally walked hand in hand with through hell, over one nasty comment. But she wasn't ready to talk to him yet, either. So she didn't call him. The fight happened at their Friday night study party, which was never much of a party even when it didn't end in an argument. Now, she spent her Saturday catching up on homework, doing laundry, and thinking. It was kind of peaceful, but she was just self-aware enough to suspect that she was also avoiding the situation. That was how she'd dealt with her family issues for a long time, after all—leave and avoid discussing it. Until Percy talked her into giving things a second chance.

Maybe there's a reason their battle strategy was almost always for Percy to meet things head on, while she snuck around another way, using stealth and trickery to win. She doesn't always like to face things head on. Maybe because she's afraid of what she might see. Like rejection. Annabeth sighed heavily as she moved a load of damp laundry from the washer into the dryer, then went back upstairs to her AP Chemistry notes.

Percy didn't contact her, whether because he was respecting what she'd said or because it just wouldn't go through, she wasn't sure. A part of her wished he would ignore what she'd said and just show up, show that he wasn't letting her run away, that he was putting in effort to stay in her life. But it wasn't like she really needed him to prove that to her again—hadn't he been doing it for years? Hadn't they both been doing that for each other time and time again? And he'd always been great at respecting her need to have space or slow down. She couldn't exactly be irritated with him for doing exactly what she'd asked.

Later that evening, when she was eating a bag of chips while watching a movie in her bed with her clean sheets and wearing her clean pajamas, she recalled a conversation she'd had with Leo on the _Argo II_.

They'd been the only two awake. She'd been on guard duty and he'd been making adjustments to the Archimedes sphere. When he got focused on a project, it was like he lost all concept of time. Annabeth could appreciate that; it was how she sometimes got when she was designing a building or planning a strategy.

Initially, they had been chatting about architecture and engineering—Leo had been describing the Pantheon dome—but somehow the conversation had shifted to a more personal topic: being a runaway.

"It was weird, you know," Leo said, twisting a screwdriver into the bowels of the Archimedes sphere as he talked, "being at Camp Half-Blood at first. It had been a long time since I had anybody relying on me. Or anyone to rely on." He glanced up with the ghost of his usual smile. "Sorry if that's a little heavy."

Annabeth shook her head. "Not at all. I mean, I was a runaway too. Not for as long, but still, I get it. It's weird when you first get somewhere stable again."

"Yeah, and the pressure kicks back in." Leo switched out his screwdriver for a socket wrench from his magical toolbelt. "When you run away, it's like, eh, who cares? Problems, what problems? They're gone. But when you stay, you know you have to find a way to make stuff work."

"You have to actually solve your problems," Annabeth said with a small smile.

"Exactly."

Thinking about it now, Annabeth had to acknowledge there was some wisdom in Leo's words. She and Percy had spent years learning how to fix their problems and work together…as friends. But since they'd been dating, they really hadn't run into any major issues. Between the two of them, anyway. She wasn't counting his kidnapping, the war with Gaea and the giants, or Tartarus. Those were all outside things, common enemies. But it had been a long time since she and Percy had really argued. The last time had quite possibly been when she'd called him a coward at Camp Half-Blood, well over a year ago. They'd had some little disagreements here and there, but it had been a while since they'd actually gotten in each other's faces like last night. And it was bound to happen eventually. You couldn't be in a long term relationship with someone without having an occasional argument. It was natural. What mattered was what came next. Nervous butterflies fluttered around her stomach and she bit down hard on a chip.

By the next morning, she'd resolved to call him, or go over to his apartment if the phone didn't work. She didn't get the chance, though. She'd just finished getting dressed and was coming back from brushing her teeth when her intercom buzzed.

"Hello?"

Even crackling with static, the voice was familiar. "Hey, it's—it's me. Can you—will you come down so we can talk? Just for a couple minutes."

"Yeah." Annabeth's heart started to race. "Yeah, I'll be right down."

She threw on her jacket and shoes. She had three flights of stairs to come to the realization that she had pretty much forgiven him for the stupid comment and that all she really wanted to do was kiss him, put this argument behind them, and move on. What stopped her from doing exactly that when she burst out onto the front steps was Percy.

He was leaning against the railing of the steps, head down, frowning at his shoes. His hands were jammed in the pocket of his sweatshirt. The same sweatshirt he'd been wearing Friday. The same sweatshirt _she'd_ been wearing Friday, until she told him she didn't want it anymore.

Something about his expression and posture stopped her cold. She'd spent so much time the past day and a half thinking about if _she _still wanted to fight for their relationship, she'd never stopped to wonder if Percy did too. Gods, she could be self-absorbed sometimes. Now, looking back, it was true that maybe he'd been nastier in the argument, but she'd basically walked away from him Friday without looking back. What if…what if…

She swallowed back her fears and said, "Hi."

Percy's head shot up. A series of emotions crossed his face, but the most prominent ones she registered were nervousness and relief. Her pulse started racing again as Percy straightened up, took a tentative step towards her, and started talking, his words practically tumbling over each other. "Annabeth, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I never should have said that. Honestly, I don't even know where it came from. I don't think that. I mean, maybe it was hiding in some leftover jealous part of my brain from two years ago or something, but seriously, it's not…I know that was a low blow and I was way over the line and it won't happen again." Percy raked his fingers through his hair. "When I realized _I _made you cry…gods, Annabeth, that's the last thing I ever want to do."

"Percy…"

"I love you. And you're my best friend." He took a cautious step closer. "And all I could think on Friday night when that door shut was 'I'm going to lose her. Because of something stupid I said.' And that's one of my worst fears." Now that he was closer, she could see the bags under his eyes, like he really hadn't slept well or much the past two nights. Even his voice sounded tired. "Look, I know you said you'd call when you're ready to talk, and that's fine. I just couldn't…I had to at least try. I mean, I just wanted you to know I was sorry and…and everything else." He shoved his hands in his pockets and turned to go back down the steps to the street.

"Percy." Annabeth grasped his arm to stop him from leaving. The hesitance and hope in his eyes when he looked at her did strange things to her heartbeat. "I'm sorry too. I mean, that _was _a shitty thing to say, but I wasn't exactly nice either. We were both mad. It's going to happen from time to time, Seaweed Brain."

His shoulders visibly relaxed when she used the nickname. "So you're not—not dumping me?"

Part of her wanted to laugh, but the question was too genuine. And she knew how angry she'd been Friday. So she locked eyes with him as she slowly shook her head. "No way. Because you're my best friend, too. And I love you."

Percy exhaled. "Cool. I mean, good. I mean…ah, whatever, you know what I mean. I'm just going to kiss you now, okay?"

And now Annabeth did laugh, right before she said, "Okay."

To her surprise, Percy didn't just grab her around the waist and pull her in. He gently took her face in his hands, met her eyes, and said quietly, "You mean everything to me. And I really am so sorry I made you cry. I'm going to do my best to make sure that never happens again. Promise."

"Okay," she breathed.

Percy smiled. And then he kissed her, tender and sweet. Annabeth had to lean into him because her knees went weak, but absolutely none of that was a problem.

When she finally pulled away, she said, "Yeah, we're good."

"Cool." Percy kissed her again, lightly. "So now I have a serious question for you."

"Oh? What's that?"

Completely poker-faced, he said, "Want to get breakfast?"

She exhaled a laugh, leaning into his chest and shaking her head against his shoulder. "Dork. But yes, breakfast sounds amazing. And then maybe we can come back here and just hang out, watch a movie or something. No homework."

Percy wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. "I love your plans."

Over breakfast at a cute little nearby restaurant, they were able to have a more in-depth conversation and hash out a few things. By the time she finished her omelet and Percy had devoured his stack of pancakes, she felt like now they really were good.

After the waiter took her plate away, Annabeth sipped her cappuccino, watching Percy soak up syrup with his last few bites of blueberry pancakes. She hesitated, debating, then said what she was thinking. "You know, I was a little bit surprised that you came after me on Friday. I mean, I'm glad you did," she added quickly. "But I thought maybe you'd take some time to cool off first."

"Honestly, I was trying to decide if I should follow you or cool off." Percy ate his last bite of pancake, then took a sip of his orange juice. "I might have dropped the f-bomb and kicked a chair. And then Paul told me, well, he said it was none of his business, but that if I still wanted you, if I didn't want to lose you, I needed to go after you right then. And I figured he was right. So I did."

"Good advice." She reached across the table to take his hand.

"Yeah, Paul's a good guy." Percy was studying her, then he asked the question that was clearly on his mind. "Why didn't you call me yesterday? Since you said you woke up knowing you wanted to work things out."

Annabeth bit her lip. "I was actually getting ready today because I was going to call you, and if that didn't work, I was just going to show up at your apartment. But you beat me to it." She squeezed his hand, but she knew she hadn't answered his question yet. "Truthfully, Percy, I wasn't trying to make you sweat or anything like that. I felt like I needed the time to think. Not about whether we should stay together or not, I realized pretty quickly that this was nowhere near a break-up level situation. But just, I guess, sometimes I still have to talk myself into staying and solving problems, especially relationship problems, rather than just running away." She glanced at him tentatively, unsure how he might take that. Then she added, reluctantly, "And I don't know, maybe it's a pride thing too. Fatal flaw and all."

Percy was still studying her thoughtfully, but his thumb was lightly tracing circles on the back of her hand, so she figured that was a good sign. Finally, he said, "I don't think you give yourself enough credit, Annabeth. It's been a long time since you ran away from anything."

"Maybe. But I guess I didn't realize the impulse to avoid issues was still so strong."

"Remember when I got turned into a guinea pig?"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "Um, yeah. Where are you going with this, Seaweed Brain?"

"Trust me." He squeezed her hand, then looked down. "After I got turned back into myself—thanks for that, by the way—I had this impulse to run and hide, like a scared little fuzzy animal. And then I wondered if that was because of the transformation or if that had been there all along. I still don't know. But I do know that I just had to keep going anyway, resist that impulse and trust the stronger sides of myself." He shrugged. "I guess I'm saying, trust yourself to make the right decision, not give in to the fear."

Annabeth felt a surge of appreciation and gratitude for her boyfriend. "That's pretty wise, Percy."

"Well, I have been hanging out with you for a long time, Wise Girl." The smile he gave her made her pulse pick up again.

"You're my favorite," she said impulsively.

His brow furrowed. "Favorite what?"

Honestly, she wasn't even sure what she'd meant by that, but it felt true, so she said, "Just my favorite."

"Works for me." His smile widened.

They walked back to her dorm holding hands. Annabeth was feeling almost giddy, glad that they'd had a chance to talk and work things out. Percy kept glancing over at her, and she kept doing the same, so their eyes kept meeting, and they both grinned.

When they got back up to her dorm room, she turned to face him with her hands on her hips. "Hey, by the way, I want your sweatshirt back."

Percy glanced down at the hoodie he was wearing, then looked up at her, his troublemaker smile making something in her chest melt. "If you want it, you're going to have to come get it."

Later, curled up with Percy on her bed while they watched some random comedy movie, Annabeth felt pleasantly drowsy and relaxed. And cozy warm, since she was once again wearing his sweatshirt. Percy had fallen asleep roughly fifteen minutes into the movie. Apparently he really _hadn't _gotten much sleep the last two nights. But that was fine. She enjoyed the comfortable weight of him snuggled up against her, his head on her shoulder. She ran her fingers gently through his hair. For so much of her life, it had seemed like the only constant was change. But from the time she was twelve, there had been a new constant: this dark haired, green-eyed, sweet and infuriating son of Poseidon. And things were not always going to be easy. They never had been. And yet they chose to make each other a priority over and over and over again.

Annabeth dipped her head to kiss Percy's cheek. It might not always be easy, but it was so worth it. She felt confident that they were well on their way towards building something permanent.

* * *

_**Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony. **_**-Heraclitus**


End file.
